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Sky’s the limit for high-flying trampolinist Karen Cockburn

Heading into the 2012 London Games, three-time Olympic medallist Karen Cockburn is poised to benefit from rule changes that take into account the height a competitor soars off the mat.

Karen Cockburn, a three-time Olympic medallist in trampoline, waves to the media as she is introduced at a Canadian Olympic Committee news conference Wenesday marking 100 days until the start of the London Games.
(RICHARD LAUTENS / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Daniel GirardSports Reporter

Wed., April 18, 2012

Trampolinist Karen Cockburn, a medallist in each of the past three Summer Olympics, is looking to reach new heights in London. Literally.

Rule changes introduced at the start of 2011 now take into account the height a competitor soars off the mat, measuring it with an LED system under the trampoline.

“Flight time is now added to our total score,” said Cockburn, one of three of this country’s trampoline gymnasts who attended a Canadian Olympic Committee event in Toronto on Wednesday marking 100 days until the start of the Games in London.

“It changes the game completely.”

It also appears to be a rule change suited to the 31-year-old Toronto native and many of her Canadian teammates, including Olympic medallists Rosie MacLennan and Jason Burnett, who were on hand at the news conference.

The trio are among the star pupils of coach David Ross, who trains them at Skyriders Trampoline Place in Richmond Hill. His focus is on increasing the technical difficulty of an athlete’s routine, which requires more height, something beneficial with the changes.

Scores in the trampoline competition, which was introduced to the Olympics in 2000, will be based on the routine’s degree of difficulty and the judges’ scoring, as has always been the case, but also now include a height mark established by electronic equipment.

“It’s better because it makes the sport less subjective,” said Cockburn, who is the only trampolinist to win a medal across all three Olympics in which the sport has been contested.

“Now, there’s another factor that’s just a solid number.”

Cockburn won a bronze medal at the Games in Sydney in 2000, silver in Athens four years later and a second silver in Beijing in 2008.

In addition to growing up under the tutelage of Ross and his height-inspired tactics, Cockburn said the increased funding trampoline has received over the years has helped the Canadians get more specialized in their training to get more air off the mat. That includes working with trainers and nutritionists to fine tune their bodies and keep them at the right power-to-weight ratio, which is needed to maximize height and excel in the sport.

Cockburn, who was the Canadian flag-bearer at the closing ceremonies in Beijing, said the Chinese are also known as very good jumpers — “They’re strong in all aspects of the sport” — so they are likely to be even more competitive under the new rules.

“Every day when we’re training and we feel tired, we push ourselves and say, ‘What would China be doing?’ and then we get out and do our routine,” she says with a laugh.

The new emphasis on height could be just the advantage Cockburn needs to reach her goal of climbing back atop the podium in London. While her goal is to snare the gold that has so far eluded her, she also knows a medal of any kind would make her the first Canadian to win one in four consecutive Summer Olympics.

“It’s cool to think you might be a part of history,” Cockburn admits. “But you try not to think about that. You just try to focus on the routine.”

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